Sliding door



Qct. 29, 1968 w. o. NYSTOM SLIDING DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 22,1966 INVEN'IOR WILFORD 0. NYSTR United States Patent 3,407,536 SLIDINGDOOR Wilford 0. Nystrom, Palos Park, lll., assignor to MortonManufacturing C0. Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Filed June22, 1966, Ser. No. 559,630 2 Claims. (Cl. 49-482) ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A subway car sliding door equipped with rigidifying and edgeclosing means wherein the leading side of a door has alongitudinally-extending recess equipped with an elongated areuatelyflanged extrusion member carrying a resilient guard, the rear edge ofthe door having an L-shaped slot carrying a generally L-shaped resilientstrip.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION For side-entry doors in subway cars which arefrequently opened, the invention provides uniquely constructed seals andreinforcements, these constituting principal objectives of theinvention.

The inventon is explained in conjunction with the accompanying drawing,in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a door constructed according to theteachings of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectinal view taken along the line 22of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 33of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary seetional elevational view corresponding to thattaken at right angles to FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 55of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 66of FIG. 1.

Referring n0w to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates generally a slidingside door for a vehicle such as a subway car. The door coacts with a carframe portion (seen only fragmentarily and designated by the numeral 11in FIG. 2) and a second identical sliding door aligned in the oppositedrection (shown in phantom in FIG. 1). The door 10 has a window 13provided in its upper central portion and is defined by a pair of facingsheets enclosing a kraft hexagonal honeycomb 14. The edges or perimetersof the sheets 15 making up the door 10 are integrated by means ofperimetric channels as at 16, 17, 18 and 19 (proceeding clockwise aroundfrom the front or leading edge 20). The rear or trailing edge 21a coactswith the frame portion 11 to provide a seal (using a strip generallydesignated 21). The iorward or leading edge of the door as at 20includes a finger guard of resilient material and designated generallyby the numeral 22, which coacts with an identical edge of a second doorfacing in the opposte direction.

The frame sheets 15 are spotwelded together in the area designated 23(see FIG. 2) to de-fine an opening for the window 13, and a window frameof suitable resilient material and designated 24 in FIG. 2 is providedfor supporting the pane of glass constituting the transparent portion ofthe window 13.

A problem has existed relative to the replaceability of the fingerguards 22 which, as will be appreciated, can wear relatively rapdly, atleast in comparison with the rernainder of the door and frameconstruction and which is an inviting target for vandals knives. Themeans for mounting the finger guard 22 in a unique fashion can be seenin enlargedform in FIG. 6. There, the faceproviding sheets 15 of thedoor 10 are seen to be spaced apart by means of a channel 16. Channell6ordinarily is welded to the sheets 15 as by spot-weldng.

The channel'or element 16 provides a recss 25 (still referring to FIG.6) which is adapted to-receive an elongated extrusion member generallydesignated 26. The member 26 is essentially pi-shaped, consisting of afiat plate portion 2Tand rearw'ardly-extending legs 28 and 29. The legs28 and 29 are seen to be arcuately contoured at least along oneelongated face thereof as at 30 and 31, respectively, for coaction withcorrespondingly arcuately contoured leg portions 32 and 33 provided bythe channel element 16. The mode of operation can be appreciated fromthe dotted lne showing designated 26' in FIG. 6 wherein the member 26 isin the process of installation, a fulcrum or pivot point being develbpedat the point 32. It will be noted that the radius of curvature of theleg 29 and leg portion 33 in the confronting arcuate elongated surfacesthereof is coniderably less than the confronting arcuate surfaces of theleg 28 and leg portion 32. Also, the provision of legs and leg portionsdevelops a slight springiness or compression, causng the member 26 toremain tightly seated when in place so as to maintain the finger guard22 in positi0n. The assembly of finger guard 22 and member 26 isadvantageously 1eleasably secured in place to the sheet 15 and channel16 by means of screws 34. The finger guard 22 is secured to the flatplate 27 by means of pins or rivets 12.

Pivoting and seating of the member 26 is facilitated by virtue ofproviding angular hearing surfaces on the leg 29 and leg portion 33 asat 35 and 36, respectively, the surface 35 being designated 35 in thebroken lne showing of FIG. 6.

The arrangement just described provides a superior operation in not onlybeing more readily removable than prior constructions which requiredspecial tools therefor, but also by being more rigid, tending to form atubular construction under stress and thereby being capable of morerigidity without excessive deflection.

At its rear or trailing edge, the door is characterized by another novelconstruction which includes the weatherstrip 21 and which is seen inenlarged fragmentary form in FIG. 5. In FIG 5, the sheets 15 are seen tobe integrated by means of the channel 18 which additionally may beriveted by means of elements 37 as well as the welding previouslyreferred to. The channel 18 is equipped with a longitudinally-extendingslot 38 on the outside face thereof and which is generally Lshaped,having a base portion 39 and an upstanding portion 40. The base portion39 extends in the direction of the leading or forward edge of the door10, i.e., the edge equipped with the finger guard 22.

In like fashion, the weatherstrip 21 is also L-shaped, having a baseportion 41 and an outstanding portion 42. As the door closes, contact ofthe strip 21 with the frame portion 11 tends to deform the strip 21 tothe cl0tted lne configuration designated 21 in FIG. 5, and thus tends toseat the strip 21 even more firmly within the slot 38. Thus, the strip21 is installed without the need for elaborate securement, facilitatingremoval and replacenient of this wearable element.

I have found it advantageous to employ a weatherstrip 21 of theconstruction shown, wherein the exterior terminal portions of the strip21 and slot 38 are arcuately curved as at 43 in FIG. 5, and furtherwhere the connective portion 44 of the outstandng portion 42 isgenerally perpendicular to the length of the base portion 39. Inproceeding toward the terminal portion of the outstanding portion 42,the strip 21 is tapered as at 45.

In operation, the guard 22 and strip 21 coact to seal the door 10 withinthe opening provided by the frame portions 11 and the opposing coactingdoor. Any shock applied to the resilient elements 21 and 22 istransmitted to the superiorly reinforced door without the tendency toexcessively distort the door er detach the sealing elements 21 and 22from their mountings.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inventive door is mounted for slidable movementthereof. The sheets 15 are equipped with a top channel 19 having pin 46extending transversely therethrough adjacent the trailing edge of thedoor. Extending downwardly from channel 19 and attached thereto by rivet47 is bracket 48. Hanger bar 49 is received within channel 19 and isprovided with a notch as at 50 which is drawn into tight engagement withpin 46 by means of bolt 5, which extends through bar 49 and bracket 48and is threadedly engaged by nut S1. Bolt 50 may be provided with anAllen head so that it may be tightened and loosened with an Allen wrenchwithout disassembling the door.

The haar 49 is equipped with longitudinally-extending grooves as at 52for the receipt of ball bearings 53 provided as part of a hangerarrangement generally designated 54. The door is thus supported by thenotched portion of bar 49 and the bolt 50 extending through bar 49.

The hanger-lock arrangement not only rigidifies the upper section of thedoor but is readily accessible for re moval and replacement, this beingnecessary when the door is to be removed. A11 that is required is theopening of the forward edge of the door by removing the closure member26 to expose the bolt 50. When the bolt 50 is removed, the pin 46 may beslid elear of notch 50 and the door removed from hanger structure 54.

Even though bolt 50 is readily accessible, water and debris areprevented from reaching the inside of the door by bracket 48 whichextends between opposing sheets 15, thereby acting as a weather seal.

While in the foregoing specifieation a detailed description of anembodiment of the invention has been set down for the purpose ofillustration, many variations in the details hereingiven may be made bythese skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe inventon.

I claim:

1. A generally rectangular sliding door having alongitudinally-extending recess in the forward edge thereof, anelongated extrusion member removably engaged with said forward edgerecess, and an elongated resilient guard secured to said member, saidrecess beng defined by spaced arcuate flange means and said membercomprising cooperating areuate flange means whereby said member isadapted to be pivotally removed from its engagement with said recessflange means, said door having a longitudinally-extending slot in oneface thereof adjacent the rear edge of said door, said slot beinggenerally L-shaped in transverse section with the base of the L-shapeextending toward the door forward edge, and an elongated integralresilient strip removably mounted in said slot, said strip beinggenerally L-shaped in transverse section to generally conform to saidslot whereby forward movement of said door to closing position tends toseat said strip firmly without the need of additional securing means.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the transverse shape of said slotand strip are each defined by a base part and an upstanding part, theterminal outer =portin of the said base parts being arcuate, theconnective interior portion of said upstanding part being generallynormal to the length of said base part with the remaining interiorportion of said upstanding part being angularly related to said basepart length to provide an upstanding part tapered adjacent its terminalinterior portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1947736 2/1934 Potter 49-488 X1,967,456 7/1934 Swedman et al. 49-489 X 2O10,520 8/1935 Kiekert 49-488X 2,121826 6/1938 Roberts 49488 X 2,583,978 1/1952 Walter et al. 49-482X 3,029052 4/1962 Early et al 52-588 X 3,055,461 9/1962 De Ridder 52-5883,111205 11/1963 Gresham 52-588 3,299,596 1/1967 Neal et al. 49-488 XDAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examner.

PHILIP C. KANNAN, Assistant Examiner.

